Ruby Red
by Shiyaki
Summary: "For a short moment it was indescribable torture, but then the man carefully pushed his jaw down and the ruby red blood hit his tongue." CarlislexHarry pre-slash
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Harry Potter nor Twilight and I don't earn any money with this story.

 **Author's note** : Just a little something I had in my hard drive. Probably won't add to it, but who knows?

 **Rating: T**

* * *

He could smell it.

It was sweet and tempting, albeit not as mouth-watering as the blood he'd smelled in the streets of London and any town he'd passed during his journey to find salvation in death. A journey that had been unsuccessful so far.

For a moment Carlisle was afraid a group of hunters or maybe travellers had wandered deep enough into the forest to come across the cave he was hiding in, because at this point he was afraid he'd be unable to resist his instincts, his _hunger_ any longer. But then he heard it, the roaring of a stag, followed by the sound of hooves on dry leaves. It had to be a passing herd of deer.

His body was moving by itself. One moment he had been leaning against damp rock, the next he was standing at the mouth of the cave, scanning his surroundings for the approaching animals. The first deer broke through the shrubbery, still unsuspecting of the predator just a stone's throw away. It was the biggest creature he'd encountered in the forest so far, the closest in size compared to a human.

Venom filled his mouth as salvia had done once upon a time when confronted with a tasty meal. Would it be possible? Could he just… Did it _have_ to be the blood of humans he fed from, thereby killing them? Maybe he could…

Carlisle hesitantly took a step towards the small herd, his bare feet silent on the earthy forest ground. He stalked a bit closer, holding his unnecessary breath and finally readied himself for a pounce. Too focused on his meal, he didn't notice the sunbeam shining through the treetops until his skin was already reflecting the light.

The biggest stag noticed him first, shortly followed by the rest of the herd and rather than confronting the enemy, they bolted, quickly disappearing between the trees. Carlisle gave chase, but keeping up was surprisingly difficult. In the beginning, just after he'd transformed into _this_ , he'd been fast, faster than the beat of a heart, faster than a blink. Now though, his body was emaciated, lacking in speed and in power. He didn't give up, however. He continued to run after the deer even after he'd lost sight of them, when the only thing leading him was the scent of the blood pulsing through their veins.

Maybe seconds, maybe minutes later, Carlisle felt a tingle on his skin and suddenly there _was_ the mouth-watering scent of human blood in his nose, easily overshadowing the plain deer blood. Gasping, the blond stopped, stumbled backwards, even though his body wanted to surge ahead and search for the source. He blindly made a grab for something, _anything_ to ground him. His fingers closed around a low-hanging branch, which easily snapped off, when a young man appeared in Carlisle's field of view.

The brunet was studying him and Carlisle was desperate to urge him to run away, before he lost his last shred of control, but his teeth were clenched tightly and no sound emerged from behind his lips. Just when his restraint snapped and the muscles beneath his skin contracted in preparation for an attack, the man moved. It was barely a flick of the brunet's wrist, but Carlisle's body froze in mid-motion and tumbled to the ground.

A _witch_?

Half relieved, half apprehensive, the blond waited for something to happen, maybe for death to finally consume him. There wasn't anything else he could do, anyway. The man stepped closer, crouched down next to him and then, inconceivably, opened his wrist with a twitch of his fingers. Carlisle's pitch-black eyes intensely followed the path of the warm liquid as it trickled from the cut, before dripping onto his lips.

For a short moment it was indescribable torture, but then the man carefully pushed his jaw down and the ruby red blood hit his tongue. He spent the next few minutes in a daze as gulp after gulp disappeared down his throat, replenishing his body with new energy. It was both a blessing and a curse that he wasn't able to consume the blood at his one pace. Half of his mind wanted to drain the man quicker, wanted to drain him _dry_ , while the other half was glad that he couldn't. Fortunately, the former urge lessened slowly but surely, until it ceased almost completely.

"You don't seem like a bad bloke," the brunet mused as he finally pulled his arm back and closed the wound on his wrist with another flick of his fingers. When he moved his face into Carlisle's field of view, the man was paler than before, though a friendly smile was tugging on his lips. "Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to pass through my wards, so I tell you what. When my stunning spell stops working in a few minutes, you're welcome to join me at my house. It's a bit more westward, on a small clearing. You can either stop by for a bath and a new set of clothes or… well, I wouldn't mind providing you with more food, I guess. It gets a bit lonely out here, you know?"

The man got to his feet, his smile turning wry.

"Of course, you're free to leave, too. In that case I wish you good luck and… next time you shouldn't wait that long to feed."

Carlisle heard him leave and felt oddly bereft. Was it because the brunet had voluntarily given him his blood? Or maybe he was just missing the company? The last few weeks _had_ been quite lonely (frustrating, confusing, _agonising_ ).

He slowly got up, when the spell ( _a witch after all_ ) was lifted as promised. He looked down at himself and eyed his garments, which were more hole than cloth at this point. His skin was mostly caked with dirt, his hair probably tangled and matted beyond salvation.

Carlisle pensively licked the remaining blood from his lips, then, finally, headed westwards.

He had nothing to lose and everything to gain, be it death, a few amenities or a new home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Harry Potter nor Twilight and I don't earn any money with this story.

 **Author's note** : "A wild sequel appears" Get ready with your masterball! Just kidding, but look at that, a totally unplanned sequel! *drum roll*

 **Rating: T**

* * *

"… _best way to defeat dementors is the rictusempra spell to make them laugh and_ …"

Groaning in disgust, Harry dropped his pen, unheeding of the red ink splattering all over the parchment in front of him. It deserved nothing less. These were the moments when the brunet wished he could talk to his former professors and apologise for the rubbish he'd sometimes come up with, when procrastination had forced him to come up with several inches of test within half an hour.

He grabbed his cup from the coffee table and sulkily glared at the traitor, when his tea turned out to be cold. Sadly, a heating spell wouldn't cut it, so he'd have to actually get up and heat fresh water in the kettle. While Harry debated on whether the hassle was worth it or not, the metallic jingling of keys sounded from the direction of the flat door seconds before it was opened.

Carlisle stepped into the hallway, wearily hung up his coat on the cloak hanger and stepping into the sitting room, where he regarded the wizard with a slightly admonishing frown.

"Harry, it's five in the morning."

The brunet shrugged unapologetically and patted the place next to him on the settee.

"Went to bed early and you know I don't need much sleep. Figured I might as well get the grading out of the way."

Shaking his head with a sigh, Carlisle rounded the coffee table and ensconced himself in the indicated spot, which clearly involved wrapping his arms around Harry's waist, leaning his head against the brunet's shoulder and closing his eyes.

Concerned, the wizard raised the hand closer to the other man and slowly carded his fingers through the blond locks.

"What happened? Did someone die today?" It always hit Carlisle hard, when people passed away during his shift and that had, unfortunately, happened a lot since the outbreak of the Spanish flu pandemic.

"A woman called Elisabeth Masen," the blond mumbled against Harry's jumper. "Before she died, she… she begged me to do everything in my power to save her son, but he doesn't have much time left, either."

Harry hummed, but didn't interrupt, knowing there was more to it.

"I just… I wondered what would happen if I turned him."

Despite his surprise, the brunet carefully kept his fingers moving. They'd been together for the last three centuries, give or take a few decades, and so far Carlisle had never expressed the wish to build up a coven.

Huh, three hundred years already…

He still remembered the Auror raid he'd participated in back then, the one which had landed him in the 17th century by accidentally stumbling into a half-finished ritual. In an attempt to retain the future as he remembered it, Harry had become a recluse - at least until Carlisle had dashed through his wards. Living alone in the middle of nowhere had slowly chipped away at his sanity, so when the blond had literally fallen into his lap, Harry hadn't been able to resist inviting the vampire into his home. And Carlisle… Carlisle had never left.

They'd spent the first few months getting to know each other and giving the blond a better understanding of the species he had turned into. Then, one day, Carlisle had requested a short trip to Hogwarts, the only building from Harry's stories that had already existed back then.A disillusionment charm and a quick apparation to the edge of the Forbidden Forest later had Carlisle's wish fulfilled.

The castle had looked just like the time three years prior, when he'd landed in the past, but only the blond's passing remark had him realise that it _didn't look_ _like the Hogwarts from his future._

It was made of the same towers, had the same forest and lake at each side, but did _not_ display the same emblem. The animals on it had differed from the ones he was used to seeing and some research had revealed even more differences. Enough of them to elevate his fears of changing _his_ future.

They'd started their journey around the world in the same year.

"Is that something you'd want? A childe?" Harry inquired softly and without an ounce of judgement in his voice.

"I don't know. Maybe if I'd been alone all this time, I'd have jumped at the chance for companionship, but… It's bound to lead to numerous problems, starting with feeding. I can't expect him to drink from animals if I seldom do it myself and feeding from humans is… complicated, which leaves _you_ and…" Sighing Carlisle sat up and scattered gentle kisses across Harry's face, starting at the wizard's temple. "Just thinking about it drives me mad to be honest."

"Speaking of feeding," Harry mused after a moment as he stroked his thumb across the blond's pale cheek. "Your eyes are getting a bit dark." By now the usual crimson colour, hidden behind a blue glamour for everyone but him, had turned into a burgundy shade. Without waiting for a response (Carlisle could be difficult about this until his eyes had turned pitch-black) he opened a cut on his wrist and offered it to the other man.

Carlisle stared back with fond exasperation, but carefully cradled Harry's forearm in his hands anyway. They'd abandoned the stunning spell a long time ago. Carlisle was able to control himself while feeding and Harry didn't have to fear coming in contact with his vampire venom. Some of it had accidentally found its way into the brunet's bloodstream during a… heated moment, but instead of turning him completely, it had added some enhancements. During the last three centuries he'd perhaps aged a year or two in human years, he needed less sleep, was slightly faster and had better hearing. None of it was on par with the vampire equivalent, but… it came in handy. Harry figured it was due to the mix of basilisk venom and phoenix tears in his body, but who knew? He honestly didn't care.

"If you want to turn him, you should do it," Harry offered as he watched the blond drink his fill. It was a sensation he'd long since grown used to. "I'm sure we can figure something out that doesn't involve _my_ blood _or_ killing people, but it's up to you."

Though the brunet already knew they'd welcome a newborn vampire into their lives soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Harry Potter nor Twilight and I don't earn any money with this story.

 **Author's note** : Surprise chapter, everyone! XD I'm curious what you have to say about the OC in this chapter.

 **Rating: T**

* * *

"Just ask already."

Edward opened his eyes and glared at the young man, Alex, who was setting a cup of 0-Neg in front of him. It was his preferred blood type and fortunately something he could just order nowadays instead of hunting down a human or having to make do with the less satisfying blood of animals. Rich and Pour had opened its first coffee shop and bar four years ago and was already a big chain store throughout the United States. They mostly catered to the peculiar palate of magical beings, among them vampires.

It's access to the literal lifeblood was only one reason why he loved this particular establishment so much. Every day (without fail) at ten in the morning, the person living above Rich and Pour would play the violin. Edward still wasn't sure if they played professionally or not, but their skill was right up there with the masters and simply _enchanting_.

He'd fallen in love with the music long before he'd seen the person responsible for it, but seeing them had intrigued Edward even further. One day he'd come in a bit early and sat down at his usual table. The one next to it had already been occupied by a person of indeterminable gender, which he'd never seen before. The relaxed air around them had hinted at regular.

Fascination had set in at once, when Edward noticed the lack of thoughts coming from his table neighbor. The only other person capable of blocking his new vampire skill (that he'd known of till then) was Harry. Much later he'd finally found out the reason. The intriguing stranger happened to be an elf and was, as such, immune to just about every means of mind magic.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," had been drawled at him after a while and it had taken Edward an embarrassingly long moment to notice that he'd been staring and had been caught by the reason of his inattention. Edward had never been more happy about his new inability to turn as red as a tomato.

He had mumbled an apology, but still stolen glances at the dark ponytail, graceful fingers and flowing clothes. Shortly after the mysterious stranger had closed their book and left Rich and Pour, Alex had appeared next to his table and smirked at him.

"That, my friend, is the one you've been pining after by the way," the blond had announced and nodded towards the door.

"You mean that-" But Alex didn't even have to say the words out loud. Edward had just plucked them right out of the man's mind and buried his face in his hands. He'd finally met the musician who'd managed to bewitch him with their music and he'd made a fool of himself.

And _that_ had been the first time he'd met Kyrr.

Not the last time however.

From that day onward Edward had come even earlier to Rich and Pour, but seeing Kyrr was a matter of hit-and-miss and actually having a conversation with them impossible. Every time Edward tried to greet Kyrr or start a conversation about music, he became tongue-tied and humiliated himself further. By now he'd pretty much given up. The only reason he knew the elf's name in the first place, was because Alex had taken pity on him and told him some random facts. Apparently, Kyrr had come to America about a decade ago, had played the violin for ages and identified as non-binary.

Edward had had no idea what that meant, but instead of asking Alex for clarifications, he'd asked Harry later that day.

The wizard was his go-to person for questions he didn't feel quite comfortable asking, because the other man was the one who'd helped Edward coming to terms with a lot of stuff, especially his vampirism. The first few weeks after his turning, he'd been a broody mess and at first Harry and Carlisle had mostly let him be.

One day though, they'd ended up arguing and Edward had thrown around all kinds of accusations. At one point he'd lashed out and accidentally injured Harry, who, fortunately, was a bit more resilient than a normal human. The usually so even-tempered Carlisle would've probably ripped him to shreds if Harry hadn't held him back. Afterwards the wizard had sat Edward down (with a sticking charm to prevent any escape attempts) and talked him through any misgivings and preconceptions. It hadn't led to Edward being all sunshine and rainbows, but he'd been better.

Harry had explained to him what non-binary meant and maybe the old Edward would've been weirded out by that, but after all the magic he'd been part of for the previous years and with Harry and Carlisle as a perfect example for how normal (and overly lovey-dovey) 'unnormal' couples could be, he'd pretty much taken the new information in stride.

"Yes, because the last couple of times I've tried to talk to Kyrr, I've dazzled them with my amazing wit," Edward dead-panned in reply to Alex' suggestion to finally ask the elf on a date.

The blond eyed him pensively and Edward tried not to catch too many of his thoughts about matchmaking. Most of the past ideas had been so cringeworthy that he would've prefered to bleach his own mind to forget everything he'd seen in the other's mind.

"I have an idea!" Alex finally announced. Edward hesitantly tuned back in to take a look at the blond's thoughts after all. He didn't expect something useful, but what he saw surprised him.

"I can do that," Edward announced, before Alex had the chance to voice his suggestion. The other man offered him a disgruntled frown in return.

"I hate it, when you do that. I usually live in blissful ignorance that you know what I'm thinking." Edward's shrug was mostly apologetic, but there wasn't much he could do, except willfully tune out someone's thought and that was pretty exhausting after a while.

"So, where will you get the piano from?" It wasn't like Rich and Pour had one just standing around and it was kind of vital to the plan, which might actual work out. Alex didn't seem bothered, though, and pointed at a man, who was sitting a few tables away.

"I'll ask Eugene over there. He plays the piano, too, so he probably knows how it works and can conjure or transfigure one. It might not be the best one out there, but I'm sure you can manage."

Eugene, a middle-aged wizard, who was part nymph or something like that, was game, when Alex asked him for the favor. From what Edward could glean, he was curious and always up for listening to a little performance. The end-product was surprisingly good. It wasn't a top-tear instrument, but he could indeed work with it.

Sitting down on the piano chair a few minutes before ten o'clock, Edward took a deep breath that he didn't actually need, but helped calm him anyway.

This was something he could do. It was bound to be more successful than his countless tries at conversation anyway. He just hoped Kyrr would understand, too.

The first few violin sounds drifted through the ceiling for those of good enough hearing. Edward was fortunately one of them. He only needed a split-second to recognize the song and joined Kyrr on an impromptu duet. The next violin sound was a millisecond too late, making Edward smile. Kyrr was too good to make a mistake like that without reason. He'd been caught off-guard by the piano.

They played song after song, each one more difficult than the one before. Edward knew Kyrr was testing him, but at least at the piano he was confident and never faltered for even a second.

At last the violin fell silent and Edward decided to play one last piece, this time one of his choosing - Moonlight Sonata. He couldn't help smile, when the sounds of a violin joined in a few seconds later.

Thunderous applause followed the performance usually only heard on big stages. Edwards twiched, having forgotten that he had an audience. He'd been so focussed that everything else had just ceased to matter.

Suddenly all of them fell silent again. Edward turned his gaze slowly towards the door and swallowed thickly, when he saw Kyrr standing there with a grin that was equal parts amused and intrigued.

"Looks like you're not that useless after all, vampire boy."


End file.
